The year 2020. Its morning and your daughter is off to school.

The
hologram of a teacher props up and she stands up to greet him. All
her friends are present but not just physically. An exchange student
asks a question but watch carefully, its his hologram speaking. At
playtime, shes playing virtual football and Mark, her wheelchair
bound friend, also joins in. Straight out of a Sci-Fi movie, is it? Thanks
to emerging innovations, this future might be even closer than we
imagine.

Just like everything else, education has always been disrupted by

technology. First, computers gained a permanent place in school and
University laboratories. The traditional chalk and blackboard model
was initially replaced by the whiteboard and then, the Smartboard.
Correspondingly, multimedia projectors in learning spaces such as
lecture theatres and classrooms have become almost ubiquitous.
And now, the introduction of technologies such as Virtual Reality(VR)
and Augmented Reality (AR) would, quite literally, bring a whole new
dimension into the picture.

Virtual Reality, by definition, means technology that mimics the

users physical presence inside an imaginary environment. This is
usually done through headsets worn in front of the eyes, allowing for
a 360-degree range of motion. While complementing the theoretical
knowledge that teachers disseminate, VR allows students to
experience or feel events. In classrooms, it can help students be
inside simulated spacecrafts, learning about the planetary bodies as
they pass by. They can be underwater in a submarine, studying about
sea creatures or even be playing a fun game, finding sunken treasure
virtually. One of products enabling this is Google Expeditions. It takes
the viewer on a virtual trip to locations such as outer space,
underwater or museums. These trips are nothing but a collection of
3D images and 360 degree panoramas, interspersed with details,
interesting trivia and questions that help it integrate into the existing
syllabus. The headsets powering this are smartphones, which
students can bring from home, and the VR headset. Examples
include the cost-effective Google Cardboard and variants that go
even cheaper. Googles partnerships with organizations are growing
in number day by day and with time, well see more and more
destinations added to this.

I live in a developing country, India, where Government schools are

hopelessly underfunded and therefore, the cost plays a big role.
Here, smartphones are rare, computers even rarer and the
traditional chalk blackboard model is still followed. A fast WiFi
connection is also seldom seen. But, even a single $5 headset and
smartphone (the teachers even) can be utilized one by one by every
student of a class. Compare this to the cost of going on actual field
trips and the benefits spring to mind. In recent times, cheap and VR
capable smartphones from Xiaomi and OnePlus have infiltrated the
Indian and Chinese market. High Speed 4G data prices too, in India,
have plummeted, with new entrant Reliance JIO boasting of having
the worlds cheapest data prices. In places like India, the future
includes a complete adoption of VR, skipping the in between stages.

For private schools however, the cost proves to be a significantly

shorter barrier. This will also help them claim an edge over the
others. In Universities where technical fields such as engineering and
medicine abound, VR seems to have much greater potential.
Engineering students are extensively using 3D Computer-Aided
Design (CAD) which enables them to view a model of a structure
before building. They can analyze the structure from all angles as
well as test it against real life limitations such as wind conditions or
pressure. The models will continue to become more responsive and
the Iron Man-esque scenario, where Robert Downey Jr. creates a
model, molds it with his hands and tests it, might just become a
reality.

These technologies can also be a boon to differently abled students.

Someone in a wheelchair might, virtually, get to climb a mountain or
play physical sports that never would have been possible in real life.
Recent research includes using VR to help autistic children learn road
crossing or to assist in the training on new wheelchair users. With
the help of eye movements, future Virtual Reality devices can help
people learn musical instruments or play video games. Seeing their
potential, I believe that VR and AR can be the leg-up that enables
differently enabled people to be as physically equipped as the
others.

Augmented Reality (AR), where the real world is supplemented by

virtual details, can be extremely useful in Medical Schools. Details
about parts of the human anatomy can be superimposed on models
or visualized. In fact, Case Western Research University (CWRU) is
collaborating with Microsoft HoloLens to do exactly this and a
prototype was displayed at their Build 2017 conference. And while
today its just a visual experience, former CEO of Dell Alienware
Nelson Gonzalez says that tomorrow it might include touch,
temperature and even smell. Of course, this even further benefits
students.

I think that a future in which technology complements existing

learning is extremely probable. In almost all avenues, VR and AR
have enormous potential. However, I do not see physical classrooms
getting entirely substituted by virtual ones. I believe that schools do
not just serve the purpose of imparting education. They are
important social spaces for human interaction which would be
seriously limited in a virtual environment. Also, keeping health
concerns in mind, virtual games can, and should, never replace
actual physical activity. These technologies, should, therefore, serve
to enhance the traditional learning process. And while computers are
getting smarter and smarter, there is no substitute to actually flying
an aircraft, instead of a simulated one.